Iron goes crazy
by Peppermione
Summary: Set after events in Monaco. Iron Man 1 and 2 spoilers. Pepper and Tony deal with their own thoughts and feelings while Iron goes crazy. IN HIATUS!
1. Chapter 1: The beginning of the end

Any character belongs to me. All wrights to everyone that has to do with Iron Man.

Set after Monaco events in Iron Man 2. If you don't want spoilers from Iron Man 2, do not read.

Chapter 1: The beginning of the end.

_Why did he do it? How COULD he do it? In Monaco's Grand Prix? Did it have to be there?_ Pepper thought again while she was sitting in one of the comfortable seats in Tony Stark's private airplane. She had asked her those same cuestions since she had seen Tony on the Hotel de Paris' television, getting into his race car, or well, actually she saw him telling the real race car driver from Stark Industries to go to hell. But the importance of the event wasn't that. It was that he did the most foolish thing he had ever done. And Pepper had seen a lot, really A LOT. She had seen him get drunk until actually forgeting his name! And if Pepper knew something for sure was that Anthony Edward Stark never,** never,** forgets his name. He just was too proud for that. For that and for a lot of other things. Like to admit he has messed up something, like their vacations in Monaco.

And there she was, alone in his private jet plane. Now that she thought about it, _where was he?_ He had left 3 hours ago and she had not seen him since then.

She had to admit it, she was worried, **very** worried. She had been with Tony for a long time, but he never had been so reckless. Not even with telling the hole world he was Iron Man. Actually, she should have thought of that one. He was Tony Stark, he wouldn't keep a secret like that. He couldn't. And she also had to admit, even if she didn't want to, that she had some... feelings for Tony.

Ok, big feelings. She loved him.

She loved the way he smiled at her, his brown eyes, his dark brown hair(no matter how he wore it), his weird humor, his embarrassing jokes, his weird nicknames (like Pepper) but that actually fit people very well (like Pepper, or Rhodey), his brilliant mind, etc.

And she loved the way he looked in any **tight**. Not that she had seen him a lot of times, but she loved those days when she walked into his work shop and saw him work in an underwear T-shirt. Those actually ended to be her best days because she had a brilliant humor after seeing him like that.

Oh, and those brown eyes...

_No! Potts, you're loosing track of your thoughts...again! _She turned on the plain TV to just see the Sen. Stern talking, no, babbling about the armours and the Monaco event, again armours, again Monaco...

"...and this man doesn't know what he's doing. He thinks of the the Iron Man weapon as a toy. I was at a hearing where Mr. Stark, in fact, said that these suits can't exist anywhere else, won't exist anywhere else, never will exist anywhere else, at least for five or ten years. And here we are at Monaco, realizing, oh-oh, these suits exist now..."

"Mute" a voice said behind Pepper, but she already knew who it was. " They should give me a medal for this." He put a plate in the table near her.

"What's that?" Pepper asked

"**This** is your flight meal." Pepper looked at a very weird thing, with yellow and black. Was it meat or fish? And then, it hit Pepper. Tony was hiding something. Something from **her**.

"Tony, what are you not telling me?" She looked at him with curious eyes.

He seemed to study her for a moment, like seeing if he could trust her.

"I don't wanna go home, Pepper. Let's cancel my birthday party...and...and go to Venice." He sad in a tone she had never heard him use before, an almost...sweet tone.

"I don't think it's... the best moment, Tony" Pepper responded "We're a bit bussy now."

"But maybe that's why it's the best moment. We just have to recharge our batteries and clear things up" He sad in a worried tone. His eyes were ilegible to her...Which was a new thing. She always had known what his eyes said. That's how she knew when something was wrong with him and she could help him. Now...she felt useless. But instead of showing that, she looked at him and gave him a sweet, sad smile as she said:

"Not everyone runs on batteries, Tony."

Tony gave her a sad smile back.

Pepper spend the rest of the flight trying to figure out what he was hidding from her. But she couldn't.

Because the only thing she could think about was that sad smile he had gaven her. It was the first time she had seen him so... vulnerable.

She just couldn't stop thinking about it...

**Well, here's the first chapter of my first fanfic, hope you enjoyed it. Any comments will be gratefully accepted.**

**Music for this chapter:**

**Iron Man score: Dying Hero - John Debney.**


	2. Chapter 2: Going through past time

Chapter 2: Going through past time.

Tony was sitting in his car, listening to the information he had made JARVIS look for about Anton and Ivan Vanko.

"...No further records exist." JARVIS said in his computerized british voice.

Tony thought about Ivan's last words: "Palladium in the chest, painfull way to die."

But he already knew that. He knew he was going to die. He had tried everything, but it just didn't work. What was Pepper going to do. She would not have a job anymore. _Oh, come on Stark, is that what is worring you? She is brilliant. She will find another job in weeks, no, days! What you are worried about is that you won't see her lovely face again, her strawberry blond hair, her blue eyes, her perfectly palced freckless, her pale skin. That you will never hear the clicking of her heals, her soft voice speaking to him..._

_And her smile. Her laughter. The way her eyes shined when she was happy..._

Oh, he was going to miss that...Well, if he went to heaven, which he highly doubted, he could see her from up there and watch for her, wasn't that what people had told him, about what happened when you died? But, Stark doubted that too. For just one reason. They had never been dead and hade seen what happened to you. How could they tell then. Either way, even if it was true, it still wouldn't be the same up there, than actually to be next to her. Protecting her.

**Loving her...**

_Wait! Where te hell did that come from? Love her? You never loved anyone. Tony Stark, this is afecting definetely your mind... Well, at least, more than you thought it would._

But he knew it was true, since he had heard her voice while he was almost dying in Afghanistan... Just then had he relized how valuable she was to him. She had always been there for him. He didn't tell her about his...situation because he didn't want to see the pity in her eyes, or the sadness. He wanted to see her smile the last weeks of his life.

He thought of the first he had actually broken up upon her...

FLASHBACK

He had been dreaming about Afghanistan, about Yinsen, lying on the floor, about how he had got the RT in his chest...

He woke up screaming in agony when Pepper came rushing in. She had stayed down in the living room because she wanted to finish some paperwork. She had her blue eyes filled with concern and fear.

When he saw her he broke down to tears. He still couldn't explain why, but he did. Maybe because he relized she was there, with him.

Pepper walked slowly to him and sat down next to him. Then she pulled him into a weird hug.

After crying for a while, he finally stopped. When Pepper got up, he had taken her by her wrist and said: "Stay with me, please, I don't want to be alone"

And so she did. She had been with him the hole night, watching out for him, stroking his hair every now and then, huming a soft melody until he finally had fallen asleep.

When he had woken up the next morning she was gone. He had found her downstairs, in the kitchen, making cofee. Neither he or she had spoken, but he had gave her a thankfull look and she had smiled at him in such a sweet way...

FLASHBACK ENDS

He always remembered that night when he was nervous or he felt weak, situations like the one he was now in. But this one was not going to go away. He didn't have a way out. He was going to die.

**Here's chapter 2. Enjoy it and please post your opinions.**

**Music:**

**Sucker Punch soundtrack: Asleep - Emily Browning**

**Sucker Punch soundtrack: Where is my mind - Emily Browning.**


	3. Chapter 3: Party through it all part1

Chapter 3: Party through it all! (part1)

**Palladium concentration: 89%**

_I'm running out of time. _Stark thought to himself._ Oh, come on! Like you even had any idea of what to do about it. You're going to die either way. There's no other combination for the RT that's not Palladium core._

Tony sighed in defeat. It was true. He imagened how it would be. He hoped it wouldn't be painful. It would be better if one night he went to sleep and just didn't wake up. He wouldn't feel anthing at all.

And then, the next morning, Pepper would come to his house and when she didn't find him at all, she would go to his room and try to wake him. And when she'd see that he wasn't waking up, she would check his pulse...Then, they would find out through JARVIS what happened, there would be a funeral...

Maybe he should leave a goodbye message for Pepper and Rhodey. _But what should I say in it? Well, for Pepper I could say how much she ment for me, and that I loved her more that i could tell,... And that she was a brilliant woman and that she shouldn't worry about finding a job...Maybe, since he was the one that was going to leave her unemployed, he could search a job for her. A good one, where they treated her well, payed her well, and all that. For Rhodey he could say: number 1, don't dare to take my suits now to the government. Number 2: stay as you are. Number 3: you were my best friend. Number 4: _**_destroy_**_ my suits. All of them._

It wasn't that he didn't care about his suits. Of course he cared. They were like his babies. But better destroyed than in bad hands.

He hadn't done a lot of things he wanted to do. Like kissing Pepper. That was actually the best example for that. Pepper. He wished he had more time for her...

"Do you know which watch you'd like to wear, Mr. Stark?" Natalie said as she came in carrying a box with his watches.

He buttoned up his shirt quickly. Not wanting her, of all people, to see what was happening to him.

"I'll give them a look now." he responded. "I should cancel the party." he added as she passed him his drink.

"Probably" she responded.

"Because it's,em.."

"...Bad time..."

"...Right, sends a wrong message..."

"...Inappropiate." She finished. "Is that dirty enough for you?" she added.

Tony felt completly weird, but he didn't answer. Instead, he changed the subject.

"The Diegor, I'll give that a look. Bring him over here" he sat on the couch and Natalie sat opposite him. "Why don't you..?" he tried to say buy Natalie was already busy putting make up on him.

"You know, it's hard to get a read on you. Where did you say you were from?" he asked.

"From legal." she simply said.

Then, Tony asked her something he even didn't want to, but...

"Can I ask you a question? It's a bit weird. Hypothetically, if this was the last party you would ever have, how would you celebrate it?"

She seemed to think through it for a moment and then said: " I'd whatever I wanted to do, with whomever I wanted to do it with."

After that answer, she got up and Tony watched her walk away. Then he took his drink and drank it all up. _Here we go. I'm going to whatever I want to do._

The bad thing was that he forgot the second part of Natalie's answer: **"with whomever I wanted to do it with."**

And then, the party started...

**Chapter 3! I would like your comments.**

**I also need help for next chapter. Because I don't know if I should put Pepper's, Rhodey's or Tony's point of veiw for the party.**

**Well, thanks a lot.**

**Music:**

**Iron Man 2 score: Dying hero - John Debney.**


	4. Chapter 4: Party through it all part 2

Chapter 4: Party through it all! (part 2)

_I'm stupid_. Pepper thought to herself. _What was I thinking of when I decided to come to Tony's birthday party? Oh,right, I was thinking about how beautiful his brown eyes were...and are. And now I'm here, with Tony getting drunk and flirting with other girls, not even noticing me. I don't even think he was even paying much atention to me even when I was in front of him! Why? Because he was too busy with Natalie. _Then, she saw Tony talking to another girl, a blonde that was giggling like a loony girl. _I'm getting out of here._

As she was walking to the door, she almost run into Rhodey.

"Hey Pepper..." He started.

"I'm gonna go. I... gotta go get some air."

"What's wrong" He asked in a worried tone.

"This is what we call a new low" she answered in a cold voice as I dropped my gift in one of the tables.

"What happened?" He asked in a more worried tone.

"Well, em-"

And before Pepper could reply, they turned around the wall and Rhodey saw it for himself.

Tony playing around with a girl that had his flying stabilizers and was floating in the air, attached to Tony's arc reactor in his chest. Rhodey's mouth dropped open.

"Apparently this is his new move. It's cute" She said as she feeled like something punched her in her heart.

"Let me...em... go talk to him. Just wait here." Rhodey said. Pepper watched as they were talking and after some minutes, the girl shut down both stabilizers and sat down on Tony's shoulders. Then, Rhodey came back to her.

"Ok, he says that he's going to stop-"

"And you believe him?" Pepper asked him.

"You know I don't, but let's hope he will."

"Yes. You're right. You know, it seems stupid that I even came to his party" She said in a hurted voice.

"Pepper, you mean more to him that he let's you see." He told me.

"How do you know?"

"He once told me, that when he was in Afghanistan, they tortured him because he refused building the missile for them. They did this tortured that you take someone and almost make him drown. Well, they ddi that to him. He told him that when he almost died then, he heard your voice calling his name. I don't know if you know it, I don't know if even he knows it, but he actually does love you. Even if he doesn't seem like he does."

That took Pepper back. _Did Tont say that? Does he really love me? ME?_

"Rhodey, I don't know if what you say is true. But either way...Thank you." She said. Then she walked from the balcony they went in to talk.

And when she turned the corner, she decided that she couldn't do this alone. He had just crossed the line. _Not only the Iron Man line, but the relationship line. He's getting officialy insane._

"Rhodey!" She called.


	5. Chapter 5: Party through it all final

Chapter 5: Party through it all (part 3/final)

_Ooops. This is weird... Oh, wait, the girl's not moving... I'm falling dooowwnnn. Jejejejeje... Yeah! _Stark thought after his...13th drink...or was it 14th?_ Woooppss. Oh, Rhodey and Pepper are looking in my derection...is she mad or just blooooodddyyy hoooottt? Oh, wait! She's both! Jejejejeje. And now it's time for a joke!_ Stark took the microphone from the DJ's hand.

"Heeeyyy, caaa' everyboody paay atentioon to meee? IIII haave aaa jooke to teelll!" When everyone went silent, he stood up straight and spoke in a solemn tone. " You know the question I get asked most often is: Tony, how do you go to the bathroom in the suit" everyone was silent waiting for the answer. Tony closed his eyes as he peed in his suit. " Jus' like that! Hehehehehehee." he giggled. And then Pepper took the mike.

" Doesn't this guy know how to throw a party or what?" She said with the most fake smile. The crowd screemed and clapped.

Stark bent down. " I loovee youu!" he said.

" Incredible. Thank you so much, Tony. We all thank you for this wonderfull evening and I think it's time to say goodnight to you all." Pepper said and the crowd (mostly the girls) opened their mouths and vocalized a grouped "Ahhhh".

" Nonononono. You can't do that!" Tony said to Pepper. " The cake! We didn't blow the candles, Peeeppeeer!"

" You're out of control, ok? Trust me on this one." She said to him.

" I'm out of controol? You're out of control hooot!" He replied.

" Tony, it's time to go to bed. It's time."

" Come on, give me a kiiisss, Peppsss."

" No, you just peed in your suit. It's not sexy, ok?"

" The suit has a depuratooor. You could drink that water."

" Just tell them to go home. It's time. Please." She said to him in a sweet tone.

" Oookayyy." he said to her, then he turned to the crowd. "Pepper Potts. She's right, the party's over. But then the party was over for me like an hour and a half ago. The after-party starts in 15 minutes" The crowd started screeming in aprovement. " And if anyone-Pepper- doesn' like that, there's the door." he pointed at a cristal wall and broke it with the suit's laser._ Yeah! That felt gooood! Oh, the girls wanna play now to breaaaakkk thiiingggs! Sooooo Coooollll!_

" You!" hey shouted pointing to a blonde. " Give me somethin' to break. Let's rooockkk!"

_What the hell! One suit, apparently, is not enough._ Rhodey thought as he went down to Tony's workshop and told JARVIS to build the silver suit.

" But sir, that suit is only driven by Mr Sta-"

" JARVIS, right now Mr. Stark needs to be slowed down and if even Pepper doesn't make that happen, then we need to take drastic measures. Just suit me up, JARVIS!" Rhodey replied.

" At your service sir."

Mecanic arms came out of nowhere, suiting Rhodey up. When they were done, they disappeared as nothing happened.

_This is it. Tony, you need a lesson. I'm sorry that it's me who has to give it to you... But you need it._

He went up the stairs and into the end of the crowd. He could see Tony playing to break a watermelon, Pepper by his side totally angry and scared at the same time since she couldn't do anything.

" I'm only gonna say this once" he said loud enough for everyone to hear him. The crowd turned his direction. "Get out!" And everybody rushed to the door. "You don't deserve the armour. Take it off" Rhodey said to Tony once the room was empty.

" DJ!" Tony said through the mike.

" Yes, Mr Stark?" he responded in a scared voice.

" Give me something to beat my buddy's ass." Tony sais as he giggled. And so, Another one bites the dust form Queen started sounding...

Pepper had run away the moment she saw Rhodey in the silver suit._ I don't know what he's up to, but I'll leave it to him._ She had thought. But now she was really worried. All over the house there were noises of things breaking while, Pepper didn't know why, music kept sounding. People were crazy. Screaming and running to any tipe of exit. The main living room was a caos. And there in the middle was Natalie trying to put a bit of order, not that it was working, but she was trying at least.

" Miss Potts..." she said above all the noise. Pepper felt a rise of anger all over her body by those two simple words.

" Don't you dare Miss Potts me. I know what you're up to. You know, ever since you've been here, Tony's been out of con..." She couldn't end her sentence because suddenly, through the celling, Tony and Rhodey crashed into the living room, both in suits, fighting.

" Pepper, get out of here!" said Happy as he helped her out of the house. Natalie followed them. Pepper saw he take ot her cell phone and talk to someone with a very cold face. She stood there watching as Tony and Rhodey fought in the living room. Sometimes you could here a "take that" or a "you want it? Come get it then" over the noises of metal clashing and things breaking. After a while, Tony seemed to hit Rhodey so hard he aparently was unconscious. Then he yurned around and screamed like a monster in horror movies. Everyone, terrified, runned of the fornt yard. She couldn't stand it more there. Tears were forming in her eyes by just seeing him like that. She didn't know why. She didn't see Natalie anymore._ She probably run away or just went home. _She saw Happy standing a few feet away from her. She walked to him.

" Happy, could you please take me home?" She sais in a low voice so that he wouldn't hear the sadness in her voice.

"Of course, Pepper. I was thinking of going too. It's too much, is it? He asked. She nodded, not trusting her voice anymore.

She walked away from the man she loved and from the first place she ever felt home.


	6. Chapter 6: Discovery

Chapter 6: Discovery.

The only thing Tony wanted to focus at that moment was the delicious donuts he had in his lap. He was sitting on the Randy's Donuts huge donut as the sun went higher in the sky. He had lost his best friend, his driver, his personal assistant, the women he loved..._ Yes Stark, you're a jerk. I think I made that point already._ And he had a huge, enormous hangover. He gave another bite to one of the donuts.

" Sir! I'm going to have to ask you to exit the donut!" Somebody asked from the ground. Tony lowered his sunglasses a bit and saw a black man with a black cloak and an eye patch. Then Tony remembered him. _Oh! It's that super secret guy that came to my house after the press conference when I said I am Iron Man. Yeah, look were that sentence got you, dude._

He came of the donut and into the cafeteria and sat at the table were the man was sitting.

" Hey, it's been a long time. I remember you but not your name. You were...?" Tony began.

" Nick Fury, director of SHIELD." he replied.

" I think I said I don't want to join your super secret boy band." Aparently, that sentence had something funy because Fury chuckeled at that.

"Yeah, I remember. You do everything by yourself. How's it working out for you?" he asked as he drank from his cofee.

Tony sighted.

" Ok. I don't wanna start with the wrong foot so do I look at the patch or the eye?" Fury didn't answer. He just kept smiling. " Hey, I don't know if you're real or just part of my imagination."

" Oh, I'm very real. I'm the realest person you'll ever meet." Fury said.

" Lucky me!" as he turned, Fury noticed the crossword puzzle on his neck.

" That doesn't look good" he said.

" I've been worse."

" We secured the perimeter but it won't las for long." Natalie Rushman appeared with a secret agent suit. A ** tight** suit.

" You're fired" Tony said.

" That's not up to you." She replied.

" Tony, i'd like you to meet agent Natasha Romanov." Fury interfered.

" Director Fury assigned me to you when you got sick."

" I suggest you apologize" Tony added.

" You've been very busy giving all you're stuff away and making your girl CEO. You let your friend fly away with your suit! If I didn't know better..." Fury started in a tone that seemed like he was talking about the weather and not about that. Tony cut him off.

" You don't know better. You don't know me. I didn't give it to him. He took it." he said ashamed.

" Wait, he took it? You're Iron Man and he just took it? Your little brother kicked your ass and took off with your suit. Is that even possible?" He turned to Natalie-Natasha- Natashalie.

" Well, acording to JARVIS, there is security to prevent the unauthorized use" she responded half smiling.

Tony sighted. " What do you want from me?" He asked.

" What do I want from you? No, no, no. What do you want from me! You've become a problem. A problem I have to deal with. Believe it or not, you're not the center of my universe. I have bigger problems in the southwest region! Hit him!"

_Wait, what? Hit him? Hit who? And with wha-_ Suddenly he felt something pinch his neck.. He jerked back. " Are you gonna capture me to steal my liver to sell it?" he turned to see who pinched him. It was Natalie. _It's Natasha!_ " Can't you do nothing horrible for five minutes? What did she do to me?"

" What did we do **for** you. It's lithium dioxide. It's gonna take the pain off. We're trying to get you back to work" Fury said.

" Great give me 2 boxes of that and I'm good." Tony said tired and hopefull.

" It's not a cure. It just reduces it." Natasha said.

" It's not going to have an easy fix." Fury added.

" I know. Trust me, I'm good at this. I've been looking for a replace for palladium for a long time. I've tried every combination and permutation of every known element." Tony replied.

" Well, I'm here to tell you, that you haven't tried them all" Fury said.

_Wait, I didn't? I think I actually did. Well, JARVIS did but it's the same._

" How about we take this somewhere private?" Fury asked pointing at the window. People were gathering, trying to take a picture of him. It wouldn't take long for the paparazi to come too. He saw Coulson trying to tell them to go. He looked over at Fury and mouthed: Get out of here!

" Good idea." Tony said. " For once, I'm not in the mood for fans."

**Here goes chapter 6. What do you think about chapter 5 and 6? Do you think he'll make it? Will Pepper forgive him for hurting her? How did I do the drunk part? And how's Nick Fury?**

**Waiting for coments. Thanks.**


	7. Chapter 7: Memories of broken Iron

Chapter 7: Memories of broken Iron.

Pepper woke up in her sofa. Her neck hurted because of the wrong posture. She slowly sat up. Suddenly, as if it were a dream, she recalled why she was in her sofa instead of her bead. Happy had driven her to her apartment, he had insisted in taking her upstairs to see if she was really okay. He said he was worried because she hadn't been talking about how much she wished to kill Tony or looking at her blackberry. She had been looking through the car's window all the time, trying to focus on the street's lights and not at the tears that wanted to fall down her eyes. She had been keeping them all the time until she was behind her door and alone. She had gone to her sofa and had cried at least 1 hour. She has asked herself why through the hole night. _Because you love him and he was flirting with Natalie. Because you saw how he fought with Rhodey. Because this is the worst thing he's ever done. Because he told me to trust him with the suit and he has broken apart my confidence in him._ That was what hurted the most. He had betrayed her confidence. She went to her bathroom and looked at her in the mirror. Her eyes were red, her pony tail was a mess and her dark brown dress was wrinkled. She looked at the time. It was 9:00 am. _I should be at work now._ She sighted as she picked up her phone, knowing that she couldn't go to work, not in that state. She called her secretary, Bambi.

" Stark Industries, may I hepl you?" She answered.

" Hey, Bambi, it's me, Pepper."

" Hello, Ms. Potts. What can I do for you?" She said in a sweet tone.

" Em... There wasn't any important meeting today, was there?" Pepper asked.

" No, Ms. Potts. You are free for today."

" I think I won't be going to the SI today, Bambi, I'm not feeling well." Pepper said, trying to control her voice.

" Of course. Is there anything else I can do for you?" She asked.

" No, nothing else, thank you, Bambie." And with that, Pepper hung up.

She undid her pony tail, she pu on a pair of jeans and a blue T-shirt and sat in her sofa. She hadn't feeled this mentally exhausted since she had gotten the news of Tony's disappearance in Afghanistan and the day he came back. She had cried both of those times. Tony had been stronger but he had his break down once...

FLASHBACK.

She had been staying in Stark Manor because of some things Tony and her needed to talk about. It had been one week since he came back from Afghanistan. Things were crazy because of Tony's new initiative about not selling weapons. She had gone upstairs to one of the guests rooms, when she had heard him talk in his sleep.

" No...Please, don't. Don't kill him. Don't go... We have to go, Yinsen... Please, you can't die..." she heard him saying.

_Oh, my god, he's having a nightmare about Afghanistan and that guy that helped him...Yinsen._ She had thought. Her thoughts were interrupted when Tony started to scream. " No! Please, I want to see

my friends again! Don't! I don't want to die!"

She had rushed inside and ran to his side.

" Tony! It's okay, I'm here! You're not gonna die! Wake up! Tony, please!" She had been so desperate to wake him up that she was on the point of crying. He finally woke up with a soft 'I don't want to die...'

He had looked at her and before she new, he was hugging her tightly. At first she had been in shook by this act of affection, but slowly she had envolved her arms arround him and hugged him back. He had started crying in her arms softly. She had pulled apart and he had tried to avoid her gaze. When he finally looked up, she smiled softly at him.

" Hey." She had simply said.

After a sniff, he replied. "Hey... I'm sorry for this..."

" No problem. You've been through a lot. I understand that you needed it. I'm not mad at you, okay?" after he nodded, she had asked. " You were dreaming about Yinsen's death, right?" he simply nodded again.

She had sighted. Then an idea had come to her mind.

" Do you wanna do something in his honor? Like... To go to the beach and make an little decoration in his honor?" She had asked him.

He had looked at her with hope in his eyes. " I...I'd like to do that...Do you mind if we do it now, Peps?" She still didn't know if it was the soft voice hw spoke in, or the little 'Peps' at the end, but her heart melted.

"Come on, get dresses and get the stuff you want to bring. I'll be waiting downstairs." She has said.

She had waited next to the door when she saw him comming down drom his room. He had been wearing a pair of jeans, black snickers and a black longsleeved T-shirt.

"Wait a minute, Peps. I need the stuff." He had said.

"Okay."

He had gone to his workshop and returned in bit. "Okay, I think I'm ready." He had in his hands a hammer and a small rectangular peace of metal. She hadn't asked, it just wasn't the right moment for questions. They went to the beach. It was getting dark, so the beach was beautiful. They had walked some minutes, trying to find the perfect place. Finaly they reached a little spot between to rocks and surrounded by little green beach plants. " I like it here." He had said in a low voice.

He had started working with the hammer and the peace of metal while she went to look for sea shells. After she had founded 6 beautiful ones, she came back to Tony. That's when she saw what melted her heart at that point. The peace of metal had an inscription that said:

To Yinsen.

I'll never forget you.

She had looked at Tony with eyes filled with tears of emotion. He didn'd notice because he was still working on placing the inscription right.

He had been thinking of doing this but he hadn't chosen just when to do it. When he turned to her, Pepper smiled at him softly. "I have found this beautifull shells, I thought the would fit." She said to him as she looked at the shells in her hands.

"Good idea. Come on, will put them around the inscription." He had said while he pointed at the metal peace. They sat down i the sand as they placed the shells. When they finished, Pepper saw a little violet flower and went to get it. She came back with it and placed it right next to the inscription.

After that, they had been just sitting down there, Tony in his thoughts, Pepper in hers. Just listening to the sound of the sea. Tony broke the silence.

"Thanks, Pepper. For all of this."

She had looked up at him and had smiled sweetly. "No need to say thanks you." He had just smiled at her in a gratefull way. They spend the rest of the time looking at how the sun disappeared out of the sky, just side by side...

FLASHBACK ENDS

There were another few times when she had seen Tony cry, but that time was the most special one to her. That evening had been one of the most beautifull ones she ever had.

Pepper sighted. She got up from the sofa and went to her bed. She needed some sleep.

As she got inside the covers, she thought of the sun disappearing from the sky... And that maybe it was time to let Tony disapear from her own sky too...

**Hey! Here's chapter 7! I don't know if I did so well with this one so please comment.**

**About the inscription idea...Well, I always thought Tony wasn't a direct man, but that he is (when he wants) a very sweet man. I guess I'm crazy...Either way, I thought about what memory to put in this chapter and yesterday I was watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1, and at the end they burried the elf, and this idea came to my mind. So please tell me what do you think.**

**Chapter music:**

**Farewell to Dobby - Alexandre Desplat.**


	8. Chapter 8: Secrets are revealed

Chapter 8: Secrets are revealed.

Tony and Fury were sitting at the destroyed Stark Manor living room, surrounded by SHIELD agents in black suits.

" That thing in your chest is based on unfinished technology." Fury said.

" No, it is. It just wasn't very effective until I made it smaller and put it in my chest." Tony said as he pointed at the device.

" No, Howard said that the arc reactor was a peace of something bigger. He was about to kick an energy race that would make the human race look small. He was after something big...Something so big, that it was going to make the nuclear reactor seem like a normal batery." Fury said as he smiled.

" Just him, or Anton Vonko too?" Tony asked as he filled 2 glasses of water.

" Anton Vanko was the other side of that coin. He only wanted to be rich and when Howard found out, he had him deported. When the Russian found out that he couldn't work for them anymore, they shut him down in Siberia. And he spend the next 20 years between vodka and rage. Not a nice environment to race a son, the son you had the bad luck to meet at Monaco."

_The thing that you did not try. You HAVE to ask him, Stark or at the path of this you'll never find out._

" When you said I haven't tried everything, what did you mean?"

" Howard said that you were the only person with the means and knowledge to finish what he started." Fury said and that took a sip out of his glass.

Tony raised an eyebrow._ Ha! My father said that? That's impossible!_ "He said that?"

" Are you that guy, are you? Because if you are, you can solve the riddle of your heart."

Tony shook his head. That was enough._ My old man couldn't have said that. He hated me._

" Look, I don't know were you get your information, but he wasn't my biggest fan."

" What do you remember about your father?" Fury asked.

" That he was cold, he was calculating. He never told me he loved me, never told me he liked me. So it's a bit hard for me to believe that he said that the hole feature was in my hands and that he was passing it on to me. I don't get that." Tony looked down. We're talking about the guy who's happiest day was when he shoot me down to boarding school."

"That's not true." Fury replied.

Tony chuckled. " Well, then you know my father better than I did."

" As a mater of fact, I did. He was one of th co-founders of SHIELD."

_Wait, what? Of Shield? Of the SHIELD that means Strategic Homeland Intervention,Enforcement and Logistics Division? Wow, I remember that?_

"Well, Tony I gotta go. You okay with this?" Fury said as he pointed at what seemed a military suitcase that had an inscription.

**Property of H. Stark.**

"No, I'm not okay! You can't leave me like this!" Tony said.

" Well, I will leave you. Natasha will remain in Stark Industries with he cover intact and," He turned to a man behins him. "You remember agent Coulson?"

" Of course." Tony responded.

" Goodbye, Tony." Fury was walking to the door ( Or what remained of it) but stopped at his tracks and turned arround. " Oh, and Tony, remember, I got my eye on you." He smiled at Tony's serious expression and walked out.

" No contact with the outside world. Good luck." Natalie said._ It's Natasha! _She walked out too.

Tony turned to Coulson. " Okay, first I need a little body work. After that I will be in the workshop. If you would be so nice to go get me a coffee."

Coulson smiled. "I'm not here for that. I have orders from director Fury to keep you here by any means possible. If you intend to run or play any games, I will knock you out and watch supernany as you drool into the carpet."

Tony smiled, unconfortable. "Okay, I got it."

Coulson pointed at the case on the floor. " Here's your evening's entertainment."

And with that, Coulson was gone too.

"Well, let's better get to work." Tony said to himself as he took that suitcase.

Five minutes later, in the work shop. Tony was setting up a screenplayer so he could watch the old film tapes of the case.

The case was full of paper models, notebooks and tapes. He put one of the tapes on as he looked through the notebooks. The tape happened to be the bloopers of the Stark Expo of 1974 video.

"Everything is acheivable through technology. Better living, health, and for the first time, world peace." Howard Stark was saying to the camara. "I'm Howard Stark, and you'll need in the feature can be found right here...Wait, it wasn't like that! Let's try again." Howard moved back and entered. "I'm Howard Stark, and all you need in the feature can be found right here. So from all of us here at Stark Industries..." Howard turned around as a little kid took a peace of the Expo Model. Tony looked up as he heard Howard say in a cool voice. "Put it back were you found it. Yes, there...Were's your mother? Mariah!" An assistant at the studio picked him up and moved him away from the screen.

_See, Fury? He never wanted me in his life, I was just something that bothered him. Something that was in the way._

The bloopers kept going on...

The notebook Tony was reading finished at the middle. The rest was all blanc._ He must habe been writing this when he died in the car crash with Mom..._He threw the notebook to the ground and took a sip of his coke as he looked down in defeat._ I'll never make it..._

" Tony." this brought his attention back to the screen. Howard wasn't so dressed up now and the lights of the studio were off. He was completly alone. " You are too young to understand this right now so...I thought I would put it on tape for you." He turned and waved his hand at the Expo model.

"I built this for you. And one day you'll relise it represents a hole lot more than people's inventions. It represents my life's work. This is the key to the feature." Images of the earth esfere, the miniature arc reator and the main pavilion of the Expo Model past by. " I'm limited by the technology of my time, but one day you'll figure this out and when you do, you will change the world. What is and always wll be my biggest creation...is you." Howard smiled softly at the end and then the screen turned white.

Tony wasn't a very crying guy. He had cried after horrible nightmares after Afghanistan, but nothing more. But now, knowing what his father thought about him and alone in the world... Tony's eyes watered and a lonely tear slid down across his cheek._ I was wrong about you Daddy all along. And I will do it. I promise. But...First I have to do something._

Tony went up and to his bathroom. He was going to make it right. If he was going to die, he didn't want his friends to hate him. He didn't want Pepper to hate him...So he was going to apologize...

**What do you think? I loved writing this chapter because of the tape scene. I always cry because of Howard's speech. Well, you know the routine, comment a lot and enjoy! : )**

**-Peppermione.**

**Chapter music:**

**Tony discovers Dad's secret - John Debny - Iron Man 2 score.**


	9. Chapter 9: Not so successful apologies

**Hey! I would like your ATTENTION for a moment! I'm gonna stop uploading this fic maybe because I need some personal time. Either way, I'll try my best. Pleas, please, review! Thanks for your time! Enjoy!**

Chapter 9: Not so successful apologies.

Tony took the keys to the Audi next morning and went to the workshop to get his beloved (and no, it wasn't Pepper, he ment the car.)

He drove as fast as the car could. He didn't have time to waste and he wasn't going to either.

He stopped by a man selling strawberries. _Pepper told me something about strawberries. I think she said she liked them. I'll by her some._ After giving the seller the watch that he was wearing (because he had forgotten his wallet.) he drove faster to SI.

He entered Stark Industries and suddenly it seemed like a horror movie. Everyone stopped right on their tracks and looked at him. Some faces had hate, others were angry..._ Ugh, they didn't miss me at all, I see._

He tried to ignore them all as he got into the elevator alone and pushed the button to the 18 th floor.

When he got out, he didn't stop at Pepper's secretary so she could announce him. _Oh,no. That would be a bad, really bad idea. Why? Because then Pepper would say no to letting me in, then I would give an ultimatum and since Pepper is not scared of my ultimatums, she would call security and it would probably end with me with a broken nose...Or more valuable belongings._

"Mr. Stark! Ms. Potts is there and I have instruc-" Bambi, the secretary started saying as she got in his way.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Bambi, I really, really, need to talk to Pepper Potts right now!" Tont yelled.

"Mr. Stark!" Bambi yelled with her eyes wide open in surprise of his lost of temper.

Tony ingnored her passed by her and into the room while Bambi tried to stop him. At the end she gave up and just focused on trying to tell Pepper he was here.

"Ms. Potts- Mr. Stark's here- And he refuses-"

"No, I don't. Thank you very much." Tony said in a goodbye manner. "Bambi, was it?" She looked at him with anger as she closed the door. Tony turned arround and saw Pepper at her desk. She was talking with somebody by the phone.

"No...Stark Industries is maintaning the property of the Mark IV and Mark V. No...Well tell the president to sign an order...No, Bert, Bert. Don't tell me that we have the best lawyers in the country but that you don't let me go on with this...Ok. We'll talk about it later at the Stark Expo. Hammer is making a weapons presentation. Will Tony Stark be there?" She looked up at him.

"I'd like to be." He said as he came closer to the desk and sat down in a chair opposite her.

"No, he won't." She said in a cold voice and hang up.

"Do you have a minute?" Tony asked as politely as he could.

"No."

"Come on. Now you're not bussy. Thirty seconds?"

She looked at him and then started to count looking at her watch. " 29...28..."

"Ok, so I was coming here with the idea of apologizing but no-"

"Oh, you're not here to apologize?" Pepper asked as she leaned back in her chair follding her hands.

"Well, that goes without saying and I'm working on that but I haven't been entirely sincere with you and I want to make it up to you-" He tried to think clearly but with that kind of...well, whatever the hell was the thing that was spinning before his face. "Can I move this?" He said pointing at that...thing.

"No." Pepper said simply.

"But it's making me-And I can't- It's getting on my-" So he just moved his chair to the other corner of her desk. He tried to start again. " Do you know how short live is? And if I never got to express and by the way, this is very revelatory for me and it's not that I care- I mean I do care and I'd would be nice- I don't expect you to understand- Look, here's what I'm trying to say and I'm just gonna say it-"

"Let me just stop you right here, ok?" Pepper interrupted. "Because if you say I again I'm gonna actually throw something at your head." Tony tried to speak again but he was so overwhelmed by what was going on that he just couldn't be coherent. "I am trying to run a company, do you have any idea of what that intales?" She said with an angry tone. He took a little ball she had in her desk and started to play with it. "People are relying on you to be Iron Man and you...you just disappeared. Is t And all I'm doing is pulling out your fires and taking the heat for it." The ball went out of his hands and Pepper caught it with a really irritated face. Tony looked up at her like a little child pleading for forgiveness. " I am trying to do the job that you were meant to do." Tony looked away ashamed. "Did you bring me strawberries?" Tony looked up with hope. "You know, that there's only one thing I'm allergic to?"

_Damn it._ "Allergic to strawberries." Pepper gave a little tap with the ball without looking away from him. "See? This is progress Pepper, I knew there was a connection between you and this." He said with a small smile as he pointed to the box

"I need you..." Pepper started saying.

"I need you too, Peps." said Tony instantly as he thought she had forgiven him.

"...To leave now." Pepper ended the sentence. Silence rose above them. They just sat there looking at each other. Then the moment was gone by the sound of Natalie's ( _Natasha!)_ voice.

"Ms. Potts?" she said with doubt standing at the door.

"Oh, come in." Natasha came in, rocking her heals, as Tony liked to put it.

"Wheel's up in twenty-five minutes." She handed Pepper some papers to sign. Happy was there too!

"Is that all, boss?" Happy asked standing at the door.

"No-"

"No, that would be all Happy, thank you." Pepper and Tony had talked at the same time. Tony believed it was a habit for him to respond to that question that he had answered it without noticing that now Pepper was the boss.

That, for no reason, made him laugh. Well, that and the thought of one of his Dad's jokes. "I've lost both of the kids in the divorce." he said as he chuckled and looked at Pepper and Natasha (who were paying any attention to him) and then to Happy who simply mouthed a 'no' to him, telling him this wasn't the bast moment. "No?" Tony asked him in a whisper. "Okay, no." He turned to Natasha again. "Are you blending in here well, Natalie?" she truened her head furiously at him and gave him a deadly look. A deadly look that Tony ignored. "You know, in Stark Industries? You're name's Natalie, isn't it?" He asked with mocking innocence. "I thought you two didn't get along." Tony stated as he pointed at both Natasha and Pepper.

"No, that's not true." Pepper replied as she took her purse and started to walk to the door, She stopped and turned to Natasha. " Why don't you discuss the matter of the personal belongings with Mr. Stark?"

"Of course." Natalie answered. She started to pick up the papers on Pepper's desk. When the door went shot, she talked. "I'm surprised you could keep your mouth shut."

"You're great, you're a tripple impostor, I've nerver seen anything like it. Is there something true about you? Do you speak latin?" Tony asked very curious.

"Fallaces sunt rerum species." She said almost automaticly as she walked to the door.

"What did you say? Wait! What was that?" Tony asked.

"It means you can drive your ass home or I can have you collected." And with that she shut the door behind her.

"You're good!" Tony screamed.

_Damn it! That didn't go very well, did it?_ As he turned, that turning thing got to his nerves so he holded it and put something in its way. He stood up and went to throw the strawberries to the trash near the door. He took one before and stared at his Father's model form the Expo and looked at the inscription of the model.

**The key to the feature is here.**

Then, Tony made the connection. His Dad had hidden the secret to the new element in the model!

He opened the door and saw Bambi at her desk. "Hey, Bambi! I think I need some help from the guards, could you call them? Tell them I need help to move something!" A nd with that he went inside the office again. He looked at the model again, this time smiling gratefully.

"Thanks, Dad." He simply said. The guards arrived at that moment. "Okay guys, we have to take this beauty to my car!"


End file.
